Concert Review: Maggie Rose Is Our Mercury Flower

Okay, I had a rough day when I saw Maggie Rose. It was one of those days where nothing goes right to the point where you get paranoid as to when or if something ever will. I mention this because, at Mercury Lounge, Maggie Rose sang her songs like they were achievements. The crowns and trophies she won by combining country and soul music in a way that felt like a bouquet of flowers handed to your ears. 

I keep on saying this in every review, and, perhaps, I have been lucky, but most of the artists I have seen portray themselves, to the crowd like, they are our friends. It was quality that was WAY RARER pre-pandemic. Yet, I think that two years, locked away, made many realize the last thing you should do is hide yourself. Most of us have lived our life in waiting; hoping that we stayed course, even if we did not want the path, it would lead us to something we desired. From “Do It” to “For Your Consideration,” Rose exemplified a lesson we have all learned in the past two years, and our now clutching with shaky hands: there is no time to do what you want but now. 

Stop waiting! Stop dreaming! Start manifesting! It was a surprisingly New Age take for country sound or, maybe, I have been playing my Kacey Musgraves album too much. (Ugh! Her music makes me miss an ex I don’t have!) For me, country music either plays to “good ol’ times” or “bad ol’ heartbreaks,” but a spiritualist take feels new to me. The idea that all you have to do is click your heart’s heels and like Dorothy you’ll find your way to home was embedded in her ruby voicer. Honestly! If someone told me her vocals were plucked from the long-lost gems of a love-lorn King, I would believe it. Rose feels in love with life, and every person or situation she sings to, which she describes, come off like petals and thorns that turn life into your eternal flower. It is a really invigorating notion for a show that was a ripe blend of calm and lively. Click Here For More On Maggie Rose